Noirmoutier
by Cleo Kraft
PRELUDE
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For a long time, the Scandinavians had been largely ignored by
the Franks and the Bretons. In the year 793 a band of pirates, later
to be known as the Vikings, savagely raided the monastery of
Lindisfarne (1) and after looting and killing, departed back to the
sea upon their flatbottomed single sailed warships and left terror
behind in their wake. With this single incident their presence had
been announced.
In 799 the vikings landed on the island of Noirmoutier at the
entry to the river Loire along the coast of the Frankish Empire
(2). The monks who lived there fled down the Loire for fear of their
lives (3). One of the monks, Erim, wrote of the journey from
Noirmoutier and his adventures with the vikings. This is his tale.
NOIRMOUTIER
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Brown sails dotted the northern horizon and incessant war cries
echoed out towards the isle, and my home, of Noirmoutier. What had
these vikings wanted with Gods island? Would God let these men dare
invade this place?
"Come Erim!" cried my companions. "We must leave."
I reluctantly gathered up what little belongings I had and walked
out of the monastery and left its sturdy walls behind.
I saw one small boat on the shore and I knew at once that not all
my brothers were here to make this escape.
"Where are the others?" I asked while climbing onto the boat.
"There's no time, Erim," brother Tirbit said and handed me an
oar. "We must save ourselves. Look! Already the raiders draw
closer. We must go if we are to make it to the river before we are
caught. Pray for our brothers left behind, Erim, for there is nothing
we can do now to save them."
The boat rocked a few times and then took completely to water as
we pushed off from shore. Our sail was tiny and worn and rattled in
the breeze. It would be useless to use this sail on the river and I
realized, now, how my arms were only beginning to strain with the long
journey that lie ahead.
"Keep rowing," Tirbit cried. "They see us!"
Indeed, the vikings let a few of their ships change course to
intercept us. They headed south while we headed north and east towards
the river Mayenne. If God could forgive us for leaving our companions
behind, we might yet have a chance to elude the raiders.
We rowed faster towards the river opening and realized that our
pursuers lost interest in our pitiful, little craft.
"See, brothers?" brother Roulo said with joy. "God has driven
them away from us. We are saved!"
Relieved that I was, I could not be certain that the vikings were
not going to regroup later on and follow us in even greater numbers.
We continued to row towards the river.
___-----___
Somehow, we managed to make it to the city of Angers.
For one reason or another, I resigned from my duties as a monk
and took up residence there, in that quaint little city.
While I stayed in Angers, my companions continued on up the river
in their quest for a new monastery to replace the one stolen by the
vikings. I was glad to be ridden of them for their selfish ways. I
wanted no part of that band ever again.
I took up work selling vegetables from a wagon along the streets.
At night I slept in a crowded boarding house and had nightmares of
vikings.
___-----___
One night I woke up to the sound of war cries in the streets and
the screams of people being slaughtered.
People around me were grabbing their clothes and fleeing from the
boarding house.
I knew there was nowhere to run or hide so I walked over to a
window and looked outside.
Some Norsemen were running about the streets setting fire to the
buildings.
I watched as a young maiden was carried off by several raiders.
The vikings were killing the men and raping the women. The only
ones that I saw spared of slaughter were the maidens. This gave me an
idea.
I walked about the boarding house and found some clothing left
behind by some of the women. In haste, I quickly removed all my
clothes for the guise of womankind.
I wore a long dress that hid my hairy legs well and did good to
keep the rest of my masculinity kept secret.
My height was rather small for a man so I hoped to get away with
my charade. My feet were small enough that I was able to find a pair
of womens boots that fit.
I had not cut my hair in more than a year so it was of shoulder
length and helped round out my disguise.
I was never able to grow beard on my face so I had no need to
worry about being discovered in that manner. Indeed, my face did have
a feminine quality to it. Smallish nose, and unmanly face. I laughed
at my good fortune to have such a way to hide my manhood and hope to
be spared of the slaughter that continued outside.
I pulled on some white gloves and stuck a brooch in my hair.
A brass necklace lay discarded on the floor and I put it on.
I stuffed some more clothes and things into a cloth sack and
headed out of the back door.
A few vikings saw me in the alley and hurried after with leers on
their faces. I ran quickly though the heels on my boots made escape
seem impossible.
The alley led out into some light woods and I dashed hurriedly
down a trail. The two vikings followed me with shouts.
I never made it to the beach.
I felt a pair of large hands grab me by the shoulders and throw
me to the ground.
One warrior stood by waiting while the other tore at my dress and
climbed atop me.
"No!" I screamed. "Stop!"
Then, with an angry look, the viking on top of me discovered my
secret.
He stood up and became enraged.
The other warrior stood by and laughed at the whole situation.
A sword was drawn and before I knew what happened, my genitals
were cut off in one quick slice.
I screamed as they carried me off to the shore and left me on the
gravely beach to bleed.
I looked up at the brown sails of their great war ships and
marveled at the carvings in the hull.
A tall, blonde woman came to my side.
She looked like a Norse woman. Her white dress was held in place
at the shoulders by a pair of tortoise shell ornaments. She had a
helmet on with a small nose piece built-in.
The woman sat there at my side and applied cloth to my bleeding
groin and poured water over my face.
"Odin," she cried out to the stars.
I fell into a deep sleep.
___-----___
I woke up somewhere else and had no idea how much time had
passed.
My crotch was wracked with pain and I was tightly wrapped in
blankets.
I was lying in a room that I recognized at once for being one of
the living quarters in Noirmoutier. The vikings must have kept the
island for their own base.
That same woman was sitting by my side, watching me.
She spoke common tongue,"You should not have upset Harald like
that."
"Who are you?" I asked.
"I am Svel," she said. "Just Svel."
"And I am Erim," I told her. "Why did he not kill me?"
She gently stroked the side of my face and said,"Perhaps for
punishment or perhaps for amusement. You wanted to be a woman? Well,
now you have no choice."
"How come I did not die from my wound?" I asked still feeling the
pain.
She looked proudly upward,"Odin spared you at my request. For
this you must repay him and join up with us."
"But I am no warrior," I protested.
She lay a sword across my chest.
"You are now," she said.
___-----___
Over the next year I spent time healing and taking to the ways of
a female viking. The task was not easy for me. Women do not live life
as freely as men and I found myself more of a slave than an object of
anyones desire. In fact, all the men knew I was not truly a woman and
they kept their distance from me as if I were the plague.
They gave me a new name, Elga, and I accepted it.
After a few years most of the original viking men had either been
killed in battle, or had gone off on vikingefarter (or journeys) to
find new homes. Only a handful knew that I was not a woman and even
they seemed to have ignored me long enough that I knew they must have
forgotten. Yet still, I was too homely and flat chested for a woman
and the men ignored me.
I sought a way to make myself more of a woman than I appeared and
Svel kindly decided to help.
Svel and I headed off with a few other women in a small ship
called a knorr. We headed north to the Bretons. There was a wisewoman
who lived there named Caira. Only she could help me complete my
transformation into a woman.
___-----___
When we got to the coast of Breton, Svel steered the knorr into a
sea cave and latched it down to the rocks.
From there we journeyed out past Exeter on foot and made it to a
small village called Velidor. Woods surrounded the makeshift
dwellings. Some deer wandered around in a pen beside Caira's house.
Caira was there in the yard to greet us.
"Svel! My good friend!" Caira said and hugged her. "What brings
you back to Velidor?"
"Good to see you again Caira," Svel said and gestured over to
me. "This is Elga, and she needs your services. She's not feeling
ladylike at the moment and I thought you could help."
Caira hugged me and said,"Good to meet you Elga. I'm glad you
made it here."
"Can you help me?" I asked.
"Help you?" Caira asked bemused. "My dear, I have made pretty
women out of the most homely men you can ever imagine. Why, of course
I can help you."
She took us in to her house and let us sit at the table while she
prepared to feed us lunch.
She brought out a plate of roots and sat it down in front of me
beside a glass of ale.
"What is this?" I asked poking at the roots with a wooden spoon.
"You may not like the ingredients I've used to spice up those
roots," Caira informed me. "But I'll tell you anyway since you asked.
I have several pregnant doe outside in the yard and have learned that
their urine, when prepared properly, can help develop female
attributes. I have soaked these tree roots in the urine. The taste
isn't so good but I've given you plenty of ale to wash it down with."
"Uh, no thanks then," I said pushing the plate away. "I'm not
hungry now."
Svel gave me a hard look,"You will eat those roots and love them,
Elga. We didn't come out all this way to have you refuse the treatment
you wanted. If you want to be a woman, you'll eat what Caira brings
you."
I managed to eat the foul tasting meal but I used so much ale to
get rid of the taste that I passed out drunk by mid-afternoon.
When I woke, Svel was gone. She'd left me alone with Caira.
"What happened?" I asked Caira.
"Your viking friends had to leave," she said putting a blanket
over me. "They want you to stay with me for a few years until your
treatment is done."
"What?" I asked shocked and sat up.
"You want to be a woman? Well it's going to take awhile," Caira
said brushing my hair back from my eyes. "My roots will gradually
change you. This is not going to be a quick treatment. Two years is
the soonest I can guarantee permanent results."
"But I don't want to stay here," I protested. "Svel was my only
friend."
"Well, you have me now," Caira said and hugged me tightly.
___-----___
I continued to eat those horrible roots and one day I excitedly
woke up with my chest swollen. I was growing breasts!
I ran out to the kitchen without my blouse on.
"Caira! Look!" I cried. "I'm growing breasts!"
She smiled and gave me a hug,"Yes dear, you are. Now go get
dressed and we'll fix breakfast together, okay?"
Over the next few months my chest expanded dramatically until I
had a well sized pair of breasts. Not overly huge or anything. In fact
the size was disappointedly smaller than I expected but at least they
were big enough to fill out my blouse now.
The roots caused my skin tone to change. I had smooth skin all
over my body now. The skin seemed to thin out or something because on
cold days I felt that much more colder than I was accustomed.
Caira helped me apply a salve all over me to bleach my body
hair. Then she put some chalky powder all over my legs a few times and
I found that my leg hair no longer grew after that. I used the chalk
powder on my chest and underarms until I hardly had any body hair at
all save for some light hair on the arms.
One night, when I was good and drunk, Caira tied me down to a
table and got out some sharp knives. I was too drunk to realize it but
she dug a small tunnel into my crotch and did a lot of repair work
down there. She was quite careful and a few weeks later when the
bandages were removed, I had what looked like real female anatomy
between my legs.
She kept feeding me the horrible tasting roots and I kept
changing and feeling better as the changes continued.
Caira even ventured so far as to suck at my breasts to help
enlarge them even more. She did this so regularly over the months that
I actually began to lactate. I could actually breast feed now!
She used her knives on my throat to remove the adams apple and
even did something to my voice in the process. After some healing and
voice training, I began to talk only in a soft, high pitched, female
voice.
Finally, after over two years of treatment, I stood in front of a
mirror and admired all the wonderful changes that made me into a
woman. I had a large butt, good sized breasts, small waist, and
everything about me was female in every way. I was a woman!
___-----___
Svel came back for me one day and nearly fainted when she saw how
much I had changed.
"Elga! So good to see you, and look at you now! You're a woman!"
she said and hugged me close.
I thanked Caira for all she did for me, then I departed with my
viking companions.
We sailed back to Noirmoutier and when we arrived, I was given a
grand welcome by the men there. They knew nothing of my former male
life, and for that I was glad.
It turned out that the leader himself, Horber, fell in love with
me and took me for his wife. Together we ruled Noirmoutier until a
fellow named Hastein came along and sent us all away.
"Cry only for the Valkyrie," I said to the sea. "Thank Odin, that
I am here."
The current carried us away and the wind filled our sail.
Another day more and we would be in Valhalla. I was sure of it.
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NOTES
1. Else Roesdahl, The Vikings (New York: Penguin Books. 1992), 193.
2. Ibid.
3. P.H.Sawyer, The Age of the Vikings, 138.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sawyer, P.H. The Age of the Vikings. New York: St. Martin's Press
Inc., 1972.
Roesdahl, Else. The Vikings. New York: Penguin Books, 1992.